Authentic Assessment

Authentic assessment is an approach to student assessment that involves the student deeply, is cognitively complex and intrinsically interesting, uses a format that is consistent with how ability is evaluated in the real-world, and evaluates skills and abilities that have value and meaning outside of the classroom or on the job. Educational scholar Grant Wiggins, who is credited with introducing the concept, describes authentic assessment as involving those activities or tasks that people actually do in the real-world. Indeed, authentic is often treated as a synonym for realistic. This entry further defines authentic assessment and discusses how it compares to traditional assessment.

Authentic assessment focuses on how students integrate and apply what they have learned through contextualized tasks. This form of assessment allows students to demonstrate ...